Coin chute



Jan. 2, 1934. w A. TRATscH COIN CHUTE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec.

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Jan. 2, W. A, TRTSCH COIN CHUTE Filed Dec. 23, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIE. 3|.4

*"a" *vn`l m5 I m i T O fH6 WATHATS Patented Jan. 2,- 1934 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE Application December 23, 1931 Serial N0. 582,852

8 Claims.

This invention relates to releases for merchandise for vending machinesand more particularly to electrical releases which are coin controlled,the invention having for its object to provide a construction simple inparts and more eflicient in operation than those heretofore proposed.

With this and other objects in view the invention resides in the noveldetails of construction and combinations of parts as will be disclosedmore fully hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification in which like numerals designate like parts in all theviews,

Fig. l is an elevational view of the invention, showing the wiring ofthe several parts;

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the trip switch for controlling the currentto the operating motor, said View being taken substantially on the line2-2 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view also illustrating the trip switchand its control features, said view taken as on the line 3v-3 of Fig. 1and looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view through one of the coin chutesillustrating a coin releasing device, said view being taken as on theline 4 4 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrow; and

Fig. 5 is an elevational view partly in section illustrating a portionof the merchandise releasing mechanism.

In order that this invention may be better understood, reference is madeto U. S. Letters Patent 1,831,893 granted Nov. 17, 1931 to Walter A.Tratsch for Improvements in release for vending merchandise, since thisinvention is directed to mechanism which is coin controlled and foroperating the merchandise release illustrated in said patent. 1n otherwords, the electric control mechanism disclosed according to thisinvention is a substitution for the mechanical nonelectric mechanismpartially disclosed in said patent and more fully disclosed in U. S.Letters Patent 1,766,152 granted June 24, 1930 to Walter A. Tratschentitled Control mechanism for Vending machines. Said patents disclosedcoin-controlled mechanisms for moving a travelling ribbon step by stepto successively release articles of merchandise, and the presentinvention covers an electrically operated mechanism for similarly movingsaid ribbon.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates generally a coin chute made ofnon-conducting ma.d terial, electrically speaking, and provided with aplurality ofv coin grooves such as indicated at 2 and 3, there beingillustrated two such grooves in Fig. 1, but it is to be understood thatone or more such coin grooves may be provided in accordance with thecost of the articles of merchandise to be vended. That is to say, thisinvention contemplates a release for merchandise having Varied monetaryvalues, and therefore for merchandise the cost of which is one cent,live cents, ten cents, or twenty-five cents, it would be necessary tohave only a single grooved coin chute for the reception of a coin of thedenomination equivalent to the monetary value of the article ofmerchandise. On the other hand, an article of merchandise 'to be vended,for example, for fifteen cents would necessitate either a triple groovedcoin chute each groove to receive a nickle, or a double grooved coinchute one groove to receive a nickle, and the other groove to receive adime. For other articles of merchandise, the value of which was anamount necessitating a combination of other and differing pieces ofcoin, there would be necessitated requisite variations of a single ordouble grooved coin chute. For the purpose of readily locating anobstruction, the grooved side of the coin chute block 1 is preferablycovered with a sheet 4 of transparent material.

Each coin groove has associated therewith a pair of separated metallicelectrical conductors, arranged in a horizontal plane. That is to say,and with reference to Fig. l there is provided a stationary metalliccontact block 5 whose inner end is in the same vertical plane with theouter edge of the groove 3, and similarly there is provided anotherstationary metallic contact block 6 whose inner end lies in the verticalplane of the outer edge of the other groove 2. The central dividing rib7 between the two coin grooves has mounted therein a metallic contactstrip member 8 whose ends such as 9 and 10 extend into the coin groovesand are bent downwardly therein, said ends being yieldable with respectto a coin passing through the groove, all as should be clearlyunderstood. The ends 9 and 10 extend only a slight distance into eachcoin groove or chute, just sufficiently far to intercept and hold a cointhat is passing downwardly in the groove.

This condition is clearly illustrated in Fig. 1, the coin indicated at11 having come to rest through frictional engagement with the stationarycontact block 6 and the yieldable end 10 of the intermediate electriccontactstrip member 8,

and the other coin indicated at 12 being shown as travelling down thegroove 3 to be stopped ultimately by frictional engagement with theother stationary contact block 5 and the other yieldable end 9 of saidstrip 8. The strip 8 is seen to be positioned in the same horizontalplane with the stationary blocks 5 and 6 so that, when both coins 11 and12 are stopped in frictional engagement with said blocks and the stripmember 8, the coins will bridge the gaps in an electrical initiating orcontrol circuit.

This circuit is formed as follows: current from any suitable source notshown, passes over the wire 15 to a binding post 16 on a bus bar 17,thence to a second binding post 18 thereon, thence over the Wire 19 tothe stationary contact block 6, through the coin 11, strip 8, coin 12,to the other stationary Contact block 5, thence over the wire 20 to andthrough a coil 2l, thence over the wire 22, to and through a resistanceelement 23, thence over the wire 24 to a binding post 25 of another busbar 26, thence to a second binding post 27 thereon, and thence over thewire 28 back to' said source.

In Fig. 1 the coil 21 has been conveniently illustrated as the coil ofan ordinary electric buzzer or bell, the wire 28 having been permanentlysecured to one end of the double coil, the other end of the coil beinggrounded as usual to the buzzer mounting 29 carrying the binding post30, the wire 22 being attached to said binding post.

The coil 21 has associated therewith an armature 35 pivoted as at 36 andhaving an extending spring arm 37 adapted to engage a fixed member 38whereby the members 37 and 38 will cause a spring tension to be placedon said armature tending to move the latter away from the poles of thecoils 21. The usual adjusting screw 39 is pro-- vided for regulating thegap between the poles of vthe coils and said armature. From theforegoing description it will therefore be readily understood that, whenthe coins 11 and 12 bridge the gaps between the electric contact membersin the coin chute, current will ow to and through the coils 21 andattract the armature 35, holding the latter until the current throughthe coils is broken, or the armature is moved away from said coils.

Preferably7 secured to the mounting 29 of the coils 21 is a block 40 ofinsulation having adepending portion 41, said insulation having securedthereto two spring contact fingers 42 and 43 whose inturned ends almostcontact but which are normally open. The contact finger 42 is connectedas by the wire 44 to a binding post 45 on a bus bar 46 having a secondbinding post 47 from which leads a wire 48 connected to the motor 49,the other connection from the motor being the wire 50 leading to abinding post 5l on the bus bar 17.`

The other contact finger 43 is connected as by the wire 52 to thebinding post 25 on the bus bar 26. From these connections it will thusbe apparent that, when the circuit is closed thro-ugh the spring contactfingers 42 and 43, current will ow from the source over the wire 15 tothe bus bar 17, thence over the wire 50 to and through the motor 49,thence over the wire 48 to and through the bus bar 46, over the wire 44to the spring finger 42, thence to the rspring finger 43, over the wire52 to the bus bar 26 and back to the source over the wire 28.

The motor 49 has its shaft connected through any suitable speed gearreduction, generally indicated at 55, to a main operating shaft 56, theouter extremity of which passes through a suitable supporting bearing57. On this shaft is secured a collar 58 (see Figs. 1 and 4) which hasrigidly secured thereto and radially extending therefrom a blade 59adapted, in its revolution about the shaft, to cause a release of thecoins 1l and 12 from their circuit closing positions.

The coin release is clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4 and will beseen to include an upper bar 60, an intermediate bar 61, coin shovers 62and 63 (one for each coin groove), and a lower bar 64. All of these barsare secured across the grooved face of the coin chute block 1, the upperbar serving to secure ends of springs for tensioning the coin shovers,the intermediate bar positioned substantially in the plane of the coinengaging electrical contact members 5, 8, 6 and limiting the upwardmovement or return of the coin shovers 62 and 63, and the lower barprovided with kerfs (one for each shover) to receive and guide theshovers inwardly of the coin grooves to insure engagement of saidshovers with the held coins.

The shovers 62 and 63 are identical in construction and therefore onlyone will be fully described. With particular reference to Fig. 4 theshover 63 extends substantially parallel to the plane of the coin chuteblock 1, and has its lower end or foot 65 turned outwardly in adirection toward the operating shaft 56, the foot 65 being so positionedwith respect to said shaft that the.

blade 59, in its movement in the direction of the arrow, will strikesaid foot 65 and cause a downward movement of the shover 63. In thisconnection it should be observed that the blade 59 is of a dimension(see Fig. 1) to simultaneously operate both shovers, and said shoversare disposed longitudinally and centrally of their respective coingrooves.

The upper end or head 66 of each shover is turned inwardly toward thecoin chute block and has attached thereto one end of a coil spring 67the other end of which is secured to the uppermost bar 6D, said springto hold the shover 63 under tension and normally in its inactive orraised position, which position is limited by a shoulder 68 engaging theunder side of the holding bar 61. This shoulder is formed by an obliquecut in the shover providing the inclined surface 69 the purpose of whichwill presently appear. The transparent cover sheet 4 is provided with asuitable slot indicated at 70 for receiving therethrough the inturnedhead 66 of each shover.

From the foregoing description it will therefore be seen'that when theblade 53 carried by the operating shaft 56 strikes the foot 65 of eachshover, the latter will be moved downwardly against the tension of itsspring. When this occurs the inclined surface 69 will engage a side ofthe middle or holding bar 61 and, in the continued downward movement ofthe shover, cause the head 66 to extend through the slot 70 of thecovei` plate, entering the coin groove at a point above the periphery ofthe coin such as 11 held by the electric contact. members. In the stillfurther downward movement of the shover, said head will engage the edgeof the held coin, forcing the latter entirely past the yieldableelectric coni tact member, thus permitting the coin to drop under theurge of gravity through the remainder of its groove and fall into asuitable coin box provided therefor.

The blade 59 remains in contact with the foot of each shover until theheld coin has fully passed the yieldable electric contact members, afterwhich 'said blade, in its circular movement, slips oif of the tensionedshover which is then free to fly upwardly until the-shoulder 68 bringsit to rest in the position shown in Fig. 5. In connection with thisoperation it should be stated that the upper bar extends an appreciabledistance from the face of the coin chute block whereby the spring 67will be positioned at a slight angle to the vertical, thus insuring theshoulder 68 performing its duty as a stop against the holding bar 61.

As hereinbefore stated, the spring fingers 42 and 43, when closed orjoined in electrical contact, are adapted to close the operating circuitincluding the motor 49, but it is to be understood that said fingerswill not cause a closing of this circuit until the requisite coins havebeen inserted and have closed the gaps in the control circuit includingthe coil 21. There is provided a trip switch for controlling theoperating or motor circuit, which switch is in turn governed by thecontrol circuit 'and includes the spring ngers 42 and 43.

That is to say, on the under side of the block of insulation 40 there ispivoted as at 75 a hori-l Zontal metallic switch member generallyindicated by the numeral 76 having three operative elements, saidelements being arranged so that they are nearly equidistant from eachother. One of these elements is an arm 77 having associated therewith aknife blade 78 adapted to make lne-- tallic and electric contact withthe slightly separated spring fingers. The extremity of the arm 77 isadapted to strike a stop 79 likewise mounted on the insulation 40, andwhen said end is against said stop, the knife blade will not be incontact with said lingers. Figs. 2 and 3 clearly show this construction,the arm 77 clearingly passing between the fingers in their more widelyseparated portions.

The second element of the switch member 76 is another arm 80, the end ofwhich is adapted to be struck and moved by the lower end 81 of thearmature 35 when said armature is attracted by its magnet 2l, therelative angular positions of the arm and the knife blade '78 being suchthat the latter will be moved into the electrical contact with both ofthe spring fingers when the armature is attracted to its magnet, therebyclosing the circuit through said lingers and starting the motor 49. Thisposition of the switch member 76 is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The third element of the switch member 76 is a depending pin 82 carriedat the end of a third arm 83, said pin adapted to be struck a blowsuflicient to swing the switch member about its pivot and move the knifeblade 78 out of electric contact with the spring ngers 42 and 43. Thisdisengagement is occasioned when the main operating shaft 56 has assumeda predetermined position.

Suitably mounted on the cabinet of the machine is a bracket 84 having anextension 85 pivoted to which as at 86 is a vertical three armed lever87, one arm 88 of which receives an end of a coil spring 89 the otherend 90 of which is secured to the bracket arm 85, the purpose of saidspring to position the lever 87 as shown in Fig. 3. Said lever has anupwardly extending arm at the extremity of which is mounted a transversepin 91 which is adapted to strike the pin 82 of the switch member 76.The third arm of the lever 87 comprises a downwardly extending taperedpoint 92 extending into the circular path of a trip arm 93 carried by acollar 94 rigidly mounted on the operating shaft 56.

From the foregoing it will now be understood that, when the controlcircuit through the coil 21 is closed by the proper coins, the armature35 will be attracted by the coil, causing the switch member 76 to moveto a position to close the motor operating circuit through the spring1ingers 42 and 43, whereupon the operating shaft 56 will be rotated.During the rotation of this shaft, the blade 59 carried thereby willoperate the coin shovers 62 and 63 to force the held coins past theyieldable electric contact members in the coin chute, thereby breakingtheV control or starting circuit and causing the armature 35 to moveaway from the poles of the coil 21 under the urge of the armature spring37. However, the switch member 76 will still remain in the positionindicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 thereby continuing the ow of currentthrough the motor 49 and the operation of the shaft 56.

After the control circuit has been broken, the shaft 56 will advance thetrip arm 93 toward and against the spring tensioned depending arm 92 ofthe lever 87, rocking said lever slowly about its pivot and moving thehorizontal pin 91 in a direction away from the vertically depending pin82 of the switch member 76. However, the arm 92 is short and thereforethe trip 93 will soon pass off the lower end thereof, whereupon thelever 87 will be snapped byy the action of its spring 89, causing aquick, sharp blow of the pin 91 against the pin 82. This blow issuflicient to swing the switch member 76 about its pivot intotheposition shown in full lines in Fig. 2 with the knife blade 78 out ofelectrical contact with the spring ngers 42 and 43, resulting in abreaking of the circuit through the motor and causing a cessation ofrotation of the operating shaft 56. The speed reduction gearing is madesuch that there will be only one revolution of the operating shaft 56for each requisite insertion of predetermined coins, and the members 59and 93 are so mounted on said shaft that the former will operatesufficiently in advance of the latter to clear thecoin chutes of theheld coins. Further, the friction of the motor and its moving parts issuch that, when the motor operating circuit is broken, the blade 59 willcome to complete rest at a sufficient distance from the feet of the coinshovers so that the latter will be in their inactive positions indicatedin Fig. 4, with their heads 66 entirely out of the coin grooves, thuspermitting subsequently inserted coins to control circuit.

The vending of the articles of merchandise again close the isaccomplished during the rotation of the operating shaft 56. On the endof said shaft there is rigidly mounted an eccentric 100 about which issecured a ring 101 preferably made in two halves to facilitate itsplacement on the eccentric, any suitable means being employed to preventthe ring from riding off the eccentric, and in Fig. 1 these members areillustrated as provided with a groove and intertting rib. The lowermember of the eccentric ring has a downwardly extending boss 102 boredto receive the upper end of a rod 103 which is secured in said boss asby the set screw 104. This rod 103 corresponds to the rod 40 disclosedin U. S. Letters Patent 1,831,893, and the lower end of said rod ispinned to a block 105 slidable in an elongated slot 106 of a lever 107pivoted at one end as at 108 to a vertical frame member 109 of themerchandise magazine. The other end of said lever has pivotally mountedthereon a detent 110 adapted to engage a tooth 111 of a metallic ribbon112 slidable in a box-like guide 113 provided therefor bon to the lever107.

A spring 115 normally forces the detent 110 to the position shown inFig. 5 against a stop 116 carried by the lever 107 and therefore, whenthe rod 103 is moved downwardly by the action of the eccentric 100, saidlever will be oscillated about its pivot and the detent 100, inengagement with a tooth lil, will move the ribbon downwardly as seen insaid figure and ultimately slip ofi' said tooth at the point of tangencybetween the plane o1 the edge of said ribbon and the arcuate path oi'the point oi said detent. In the upward movement of the lever 107 thedetent 110 will move about its pivot against the tension oi the spring115 and slide over the edge of said ribbon until the detent reaches thenext tooth with which it will actively engage on the next downwardmovement of said lever.

The throw of the lever 107 is governed by the dimension oi' theeccentric as well as the position of the rod connection with said lever,the latter being adjusted by means oi the slidable block 105 and thethreaded engagement 1l7 oi' the rod with the lever. The parts aredimensioned and proportioned with respect to the spacing of the teethlll or' the ribbon so that the ribbon will be moved a distance equal tothe spacing of its teeth with each downward throw or" the lever 107.Also it will be understood that the teeth 111 oi' the ribbon are spacedin accordance with the spacing oi' the hinged shelves 118 upon each ofthe latter oi which an article of merchandise is positioned. The partsjust described are similar in construction and action to the similarparts disclosed in Fig. i or" the U. S. Letters Patent 1,831,893.

From the foregoing description it will thus be apparent that by thisinvention there is provided a release mechanism for articles to bevended which electrically operated and coin controlled. rIhis isaccomplished through the provision of an electric control circuitincluding the source oi current, the contact members 5, 8 and 6associated with the coin chute, the electric magnet 2l, and its armature35, the gaps between the contact members 5, 8 and 6 being closed whenthe requisite coins of predetermined characteristics are intercepted bythe yieldable ends 9 and 10 of the contact strip 8. By predeterminedcharacteristics of the coin is meant a coin of a diameter that willelectrically bridge the gap just mentioned and permit conductivity ofcurrent from one contact member to the next. Obviously if a coin such asa dime is inserted in the coin groove intended for a nickle, the controlcircuit will not be closed since the dime would be insufiicient indiameter to fill the space or gap between such contact members as 5 and9. When the requisite coins have come to rest in the plane of thesecontact members, current will ilow through the electromagnet and attractthe armature 35.

There is a second electric circuit for operating the motor 49, whichcircuit includes the same source of current for the control circuit anda trip switch as well as said motor, the trip switch 'comprising apivoted member adapted when moved in one direction by the armature 35 toclose the circuit through the fingers 42 and 43, thus energizing 'themotor and causing revolution of the shaft 56 at a greatly reduced speedfrom that of the motor.

This shaft provided with `three cams l59, '9 3 and 100 for respectivelyactuating the shovers such as 62 and 63 for releasing the interceptedcoins from their circuit closing positions, for causing movement of thepivoted member 76 of the trip switch to be moved in the opposite direc#tion, for breaking the motor operating electric circuit through thefingers 42 and 43, and for causing actuation or release of the vendingmerchandise.

The shaft 56 is thus seen to be a common means actuated by the motor foraccomplishing these three operations through the instrumentality of thesaid three cams. Also it is to be observed particularly from Fig. 4 thatthe coin shovers are normally disposed outside of the coin chute andthat the oblique surface such as 69 of each shover provides a means forwedgingly forcing the head 66 of each shover into the coin shaft forengagement with the intercepted coin. From Fig. l it will be seen thatthe electromagnet and the motor are connected to the same source ofcurrent, but disposed in parallel relation, and that the electromagnetand the contact members 5, 8 and 6 are respectively connected in series.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details ofconstruction and arrangements of parts without departing from the spiritor" the invention, and therefore it is not desired to be limited to theforegoing except as may be required by the claims.

What is claimed is:-

l. In a device of the character described the combination of a coinchute and a device therein for intercepting a coin to initiate theactuation of a movable member; an ejector to release the interceptedcoin to terminate the actuation of the movable member; and rotary meansfor actuating the ejector, said means mounted in the median plane ofsaid chute.

2. In a device of the character described the combination of a coinchute and a device therein for intercepting a coin to initiate theactuation of a movable member; an ejector to release the interceptedcoin to terminate the actuation of the movable member; and rotary meansfor actuating the ejector, said means mounted between parallel planessubstantially perpendicular to the face of the chute, said planesdisposed within the confines of the edges of said chute.

3. In a device of the character described the combination of a coinchute and a device therein for intercepting a coin to initiate theactuation of a movable member; and ejecting means to release theintercepted coin to terminate the actuation of `the movable member, saidvmeans actu- 1 ated by a plurality of elements, one rotary, all of saidelements mounted between parallel planes substantially perpendicular tothe face of the chute, said planes disposed within the coniines of theedges of said chute.

4. In a device of the character described the combination of a coinchute and a device therein for intercepting a coin to initiate theactuation of a movable member; and ejecting means to release theintercepted coin to terminate the actuation of the movable member, saidmeans actuated by a slidable element and a rotary element the latterhaving swiping action Von the former.

5. In a device of the character described the combination of a coinchute and a device therein `for intercepting a coin to initiate theactuation of a movable member; and ejecting means to release theintercepted coin to terminate the actuation of the movable member, saidmeans actuated by va slidable element and -a rotary .element the latterhaving swiping action on the former, both of said elements commonlymounted between parallel planes substantially perpendicular to the faceof the chute, said planes disposed Within the coniines of the edges ofsaid chute.

6. In a device of the character described the combination of a coinchute and a device therein for intercepting a coin; a shaft extendingacross the face of said chute in spaced relation thereto, actuation ofsaid shaft initiated by the interception of the coin, said shaft adaptedto have a predetermined revolution; an ejector to release theintercepted coin prior to the termination of revolution of said shaft;and means for actuating the ejector, said means including an elementcarried by said shaft and having a portion operable substantially in aplane disposed Within the confines of the edges of said chute.

7. In a device of the character described the combination of a coinchute and a device therein for intercepting a coin; a shaft extendingacross the face of said chute in spaced relation thereto, actuation ofsaid shaft initiated by the interception of the coin, said shaft adaptedto have a predetermined revolution; a coin-engaging memher operable in aplane disposed Within the connes of the edges of said chute, said memberfor releasing the intercepted coin prior to the termination ofrevolution of said shaft; and means for actuating said member, saidmeans including an element carried by said shaft and having a portionoperable substantially in the plane of said member.

8. In a device of the character described the combination of a coinchute and a device therein for intercepting a coin; a shaft extendingacross the face of said chute in spaced relation thereto, actuation ofsaid shaft initiated by the interception of the coin, said shaft adaptedto have a predetermined revolution; an ejector operable in a planedisposed Within the confines of the edges of said chute to release theintercepted coin prior to the termination of revolution of said shaft,said ejector slidably mounted adjacent said chute and having anextension directed toward said shaft as Well as another extensionadapted to enter said chute and engage an edge of the intercepted coinwhen said ejector is moved; and means for actuating the ejector, saidmeans including an element carried by said shaft and adapted to engagelthe rst mentioned of the extensions of said member to move the latter.

WALTER A. TRATSCH.

